Another Question about the RAW diet

[Winters100]

Sadly raw bones can also cause problems, many people feed them for years without any issue, but the risk is still there. My husband is a vet and won't feed this diet to our dogs as he has lost dogs on the table from this and he says it is a terrible way to go. That having been said it does definitely seem to have some benefits, so if you are aware of and can accept the risk I would not say it is a bad thing.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Can I ask what food is sold in his surgery?

 

[Winters100]

Can I ask what food is sold in his surgery?

He works at a referral centre in a university so they don't sell food.

 

[Winters100]

Can I ask what food is sold in his surgery?

And actually if you are trying to suggest that vets do not support raw diet because they want to sell food that is ridiculous. The vast majority of people who do not feed raw do not use food supplied by their vet. Even if they use the brands most commonly sold at the vet they would normally order online (as we do). My husband spends an enormous amount of time trying to work things out so that people can have their animals treated within their budget and does numerous surgeries for free for rescues. Most vets truly care about their clients (both animal and human) and would never recommend a diet just for personal profit. What IS wrong is people promoting a diet without acknowledging and explaining the fact that there are very real risks associated with it and that some dogs die from it.

 

[0310Star]

We are getting on amazingly with raw feeding and my puppy is looking fantastic (the vet even commented on how amazingly shiny her coat is looking and her overall condition!) but I am not too sure what fruit and veg to be adding in.

She has a selection of minced meat from a raw dog feed supplier but it is a mixture of meat/bone/offal only, not a complete food with veg added in. She is currently getting 5% of her body weight as recommended for a growing pup (she is 5 months old on Friday) and this is working well.

Any ideas on what fruit and veg to get and add in? And how often? I want to start using fresh stuff from the farm shop if possible so I can do a weekly shop for us and a little extra for her.

Thanks in advance

 

[Cinnamontoast]

And actually if you are trying to suggest that vets do not support raw diet because they want to sell food that is ridiculous. The vast majority of people who do not feed raw do not use food supplied by their vet. Even if they use the brands most commonly sold at the vet they would normally order online (as we do). My husband spends an enormous amount of time trying to work things out so that people can have their animals treated within their budget and does numerous surgeries for free for rescues. Most vets truly care about their clients (both animal and human) and would never recommend a diet just for personal profit. What IS wrong is people promoting a diet without acknowledging and explaining the fact that there are very real risks associated with it and that some dogs die from it.

Wow, massive leap from one sentence! Most vets don't have more than basic nutrition for all species-half a day according to a mate who qualified recently.

Start a thread on the main bit of the dog page if you want to defend something (and btw, every vet surgery I've ever been in sells either Hills or Science Plan, neither of which I'd care to touch) the raw thread is not the place, quite honestly.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Double post.

 

[Winters100]

Wow, massive leap from one sentence! Most vets don't have more than basic nutrition for all species-half a day according to a mate who qualified recently.

Start a thread on the main bit of the dog page if you want to defend something (and btw, every vet surgery I've ever been in sells either Hills or Science Plan, neither of which I'd care to touch) the raw thread is not the place, quite honestly.

I don't know where your friend qualified from but in any case a vet with 25 years experience is not relying only on what they learned at school. Most owners would seek advice from an experienced vet on such important topics and not rely on the opinion of someone just qualified. If you as a vet had operated on dogs who subsequently died from this diet you might have a different view about the safety. It may well be right for some but it is absolutely immoral that people with little knowledge recommend it without pointing out that there is a risk that must be accepted when making the choice. What was your point about every vet you had been in selling Hills (or indeed any other brand) food?

 

[Cinnamontoast]

If you don't mind, take this to pms or a main thread. It is taking this thread off topic, not very fair.

 

[Karran]

Mrs Spaniel is taking the plunge into raw food this week!

We've had chicken fillet pieces the last couple of days and I've got some thigh for her to try.

Please tell me again that its ok for her to eat them! I'll be clinging on to the bone nervously tonight.....

 

[Cinnamontoast]

The thigh is quite a chunky bone or are you feeding it off the bone? I like chicken wings, because you can hold them and encourage chewing rather than inhaling! If you can get hold of chicken necks, they're a good size. PM me if you'd like a list of suppliers who do meat on or off the bone specifically for dogs.

 

[Karran]

Yikes are thighs not good then?
Not sure what you mean by off the bone? It was a chunk of meat and I just held onto the bone bit while she ate around me.

I was scared of the wings as I thought smaller would be more likely to be inhaled. She crunched her way through the bone with me holding onto the end so she had to stop and chew and I've monitored her carefully since then so feeling a little more relaxed about bones, although it'll be a while before I give her free rein to get on with it!

Was considering drumsticks as well *eyeing up bags of cheap meat from sainsburys*

But would you advise against them as well then?

Please pm me - i've been a bit hesitant about bemusing my local butcher for scrap ends!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

In the hot weather, frozen raw is handy (I worry about how hard frozen bones are so I avoid) but offal is good as are minces.

 

[paulineh]

Years ago I use to feed my working dogs Lights and melts. The working sheep dogs and the gun dogs.

Cooked it in a small burco and it stunk but the dogs were healthy with lovely shinny coats. I just added some vegetables and oil.

 

[tda]

So after trawling thru this thread, I'm looking to try my 4 PRT and elderly Border Collie on raw diet. I guess this means I need quite a lot of meat etc on a daily basis. Does anyone have any contacts where you can buy these products already frozen I guess?

My brothers friend has a butchers shop so he's my first call, but need a backup plan

 

[Leo Walker]

put "raw food suppliers" into google and there will be loads! Manifold Valley Meats are very good quality. Durham Animal Feeds a bit less so, but mine dont seem fussed. I use Landywoods. I find them cheap but good quality and with lots of variety. They do some cat specific stuff as well which is important to me as the cat is raw fed, well mainly, hes a cat so he eats whatever he tells us he wants to eat :lol:

I also buy bones and heart/offally type stuff from Morrisons and buy chicken hearts from a local polish butcher. I love feeding mine and am always on the look out for new stuff to give them. I love raw feeding

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Pets at Home do raw ready packaged, mince etc. All supermarkets do frozen chicken bits really cheap. Ask your butcher mate for off cuts, non weight bearing bones, ears, tips, anything he'd normally chuck.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I am feeding my little rescue Nature's Menu and she's doing well on it-seems she has a chicken allergy and feeding this has stopped her paw chewing etc. She also gets bones and fish on top of that.
I am shortly getting a golden retriever pup and would also like to feed him RAW in time but NM will work out quite spendy for the pair of them. Local butcher does dog mince which is chicken free. I must admit I am a bit nervous about doing home-made RAW for a growing dog so haven't decided on that just yet. But in addition to the butcher's dog mince, what veggies and in what sort of proportion should I give her?

 

[Leo Walker]

Mine dot get veg, apart from the odd pack that has mince in it. I find my younger boy drops weight dramatically if he gets a mince with veg in. He does like the odd bit of carrot and loves apples so gets those occasionally. Lots of people dont feed any veg, so its entirely up to you if you want to or not

 

[MotherOfChickens]

ok, thanks-she's an insanely good doer and also on phenobarb for epilepsy which really increases her appetite (plus she's part beagle lol, genes are against her!) so I dunno if veg might make her feel a bit fuller or not. Seems odd for companies to add veg on the one hand so I wondered if there's something in there that they need-fibre for example. Not sure why they might need peas which NM has but it has worked well for two different dogs.

 

[Leo Walker]

I dont like NM, I dont find it great quality. Mine wont eat most of it. Other peoples dogs are fine on it though. I used to get a mince and veg mix from a local supplier. The dogs did eat that but they just seem to do better on just meat. If mine were good doers I'd def be looking for a meat and veg mix or adding my own veg though. It def bulks them out. Have a look at some of the suppliers, there are lots of them and they all do lots of different things, so its just working out which one suits you

 

[epemberton94]

I feed my spaniel raw. He has everything- bones, hearts, liver, eggs. I just go down to the butchers, buy loads of trimmings and ask them to save some chicken carcasses etc for me. I then take it home, bag it up and put it in my chest freezer.

 

[Billyboo]

I dont agree with feeding yogurt, but generally support the RAW diet because it is a lot more natural for dogs. In the wild they wouldn't cook their food! Also bones are a must. Good luck with the new puppy; theres nothing better than bringing home a new pup into the family.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Why don't you like yoghurt? It seems to settle their stomachs when they're puky.

 

[Billyboo]

To digest lactose, dogs must produce a lactose-breaking-down enzyme called lactase. 'Most' dogs can't produce this enzyme and can't properly digest and utilise the nutrients in yoghurt. It can also make them bloat, vomit and upset their digestive systems.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

So, proud owner of 10 week old pup (GR) who is currently on Purina. I would like to get him on to RAW-not least as I have a freezer full of RAW from DAF that I bought for the dog that I lost a couple of weeks ago. I know some isn't suitable for him but I do have many packs of minces (game and lamb tripe containing bone and offal, oily fish amongst others-although I avoided chicken as she had a chicken allergy). I won't be doing anything straight away if its not recommended.

Some questions:

Should I start him sooner rather than later or let him get his jags out of the way?

I know I should not feed RAW and kibble together, he's currently on 3 meals a day-how would that work?

Vegetables-could I just get the NM veg nuggets and add one/two of them in a day?

An I better off going for something like Natures Instinct? I've had good results with adult dogs with Nature's Menu but I know some don't rate it.

Any tips? (help!!! please )

 

[msowell]

I've tried my 2yo border collie on raw (Natures Menu and then a local supplier) for the last month because I wanted her to have something healthier, but she just hasn't been stomaching it well. Either runny tummy or getting sick.

Has anyone else had that experience too? I'm home cooking for her now.

 

[George_M]

of course, she needs bones

 

[msowell]

of course, she needs bones

OK. Thanks George. Thought that would have been covered by the ground bone content in this:
https://www.naturesmenu.co.uk/chicken-salmon-complete

I'll try switching back and adding some full bones aswell.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

msowell, the bone content in Natures diet is fine, you don't need more. I do DIY, so aim for 80:10:10 meat offal bone.

Are you feeding only chicken ones? Lots of dogs are allergic, might be worth trying another variety if poss.